The Donald Trump story and the Jeremy Corbyn story are same tale told by different countries. A political party reinvents itself in the 1990s, wins power, but then dishonestly drags its nation into a terrible war in Iraq. It becomes widely reviled. The party is still in power a few years later when the financial system collapses. The party takes desperate measures to keep the country’s economy going – rescuing failed banks – but that in turn leads to more unpopularity and distrust among the public. It loses power. In opposition, the party’s base – its core voters – starts to revolt. The party then loses another election. Then the party’s grassroots have a chance to reject the party leadership, which they do. The voters elect instead a leader who seems unelectable, a joke figure. Journalists scoff, the party is humiliated, and everybody thinks it is funny. The party elite and its media backers try to organise coup after coup against the new leader, but that only entrenches his position.
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